ACCEPTABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does acceptable mean? 

• ACCEPTABLE (adjective)
  The adjective ACCEPTABLE has 4 senses:

1. worthy of acceptance or satisfactory

2. judged to be in conformity with approved usage

3. meeting requirements

4. adequate for the purpose

  Familiarity information: ACCEPTABLE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACCEPTABLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Worthy of acceptance or satisfactory

Context example:

performances varied from acceptable to excellent

Similar:

bankable (acceptable to or at a bank)

unexceptionable; unimpeachable (completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach)

unobjectionable (not objectionable)

Also:

satisfactory (giving satisfaction)

Antonym:

unacceptable (not acceptable; not welcome)

Derivation:

acceptability; acceptableness (satisfactoriness by virtue of conforming to approved standards)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Judged to be in conformity with approved usage

Context example:

acceptable English usage

Similar:

received; standard (conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Derivation:

acceptability; acceptableness (satisfactoriness by virtue of conforming to approved standards)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Meeting requirements

Synonyms:

acceptable; decent; satisfactory

Context example:

a decent wage

Similar:

good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)

Derivation:

accept (make use of or accept for some purpose)

acceptability; acceptableness (satisfactoriness by virtue of conforming to approved standards)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Adequate for the purpose

Context example:

the water was acceptable for drinking

Similar:

fit (meeting adequate standards for a purpose)

Derivation:

accept (make use of or accept for some purpose)

acceptability; acceptableness (satisfactoriness by virtue of conforming to approved standards)

 Context examples 

Oh, cousin, you do not know how acceptable it is.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Acceptable values to describe TIMI Flow.

(CDISC SDTM Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Flow Responses Terminology, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A bibliographical reference in an acceptable format.

(Citation Description, NCI Thesaurus)

An impartial group that oversees a clinical trial and reviews the results to see if they are acceptable.

(Data and Safety Monitoring Board, NCI Dictionary)

A group formed for the purpose of developing a system of clinical staging for cancer that is acceptable to the American medical profession and is compatible with other accepted classifications.

(American Joint Committee on Cancer, NCI Thesaurus)

Her ladyship seemed pleased with the idea; and you may imagine that I am happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments which are always acceptable to ladies.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Perhaps that will be considered an acceptable course of proceeding.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was so fully aware that only serious moods and occupations were acceptable, that in his presence every effort to sustain or follow any other became vain: I fell under a freezing spell.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They may hesitate as to an acceptable wedding present.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The amount of BPA the FDA considers acceptable varies based on the product.

(Humans exposed to far more hormone-disrupting chemicals than thought, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)